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No it doesn't. It actually makes them think harder. That is one reason people don't like it

Yeah, think harder about doing things in ridiculous ways because a lot of teachers before now didn't take the time to explain what something like 4 x 5 means instead of just teaching the answer and telling the students to memorize their multiplication tables.

The system is designed to get everyone on the same level, and since it's extremely hard to bring students who struggle up to the level of the students who excel, the solution is to put a system in place that brings the students who excel down to the same level as the students who struggle.

And don't try to convince me otherwise, because I have seen it first hand. I have a second grader who consistently places in sixth-grade level work, but his teacher (because of common core) continues to try to give him homework that is ridiculously simple. How simple? Well, it is supposed to be "weekly" homework, but my child completes it in about 5 minutes. Only recently, because I raised concerns about it, has the teacher started giving him more difficult homework.

Before she did that, however, she explained the teachers, "...take turns," assigning the weekly homework, so she was simply giving him what all of the other second graders were getting. There are a couple of problems with that. First, not all second-grade classes are necessarily doing the same level of work. Second, my son is in a Montessori classroom, so doesn't giving everyone the same work sort of defeat the principle of Montessori?

I have said it before, so I'll say it again now, I'm only concerned with common core as it applies to math, because I haven't seen how it affects other subjects.

Yeah, think harder about doing things in ridiculous ways because a lot of teachers before now didn't take the time to explain what something like 4 x 5 means instead of just teaching the answer and telling the students to memorize their multiplication tables.

The system is designed to get everyone on the same level, and since it's extremely hard to bring students who struggle up to the level of the students who excel, the solution is to put a system in place that brings the students who excel down to the same level as the students who struggle.

And don't try to convince me otherwise, because I have seen it first hand. I have a second grader who consistently places in sixth-grade level work, but his teacher (because of common core) continues to try to give him homework that is ridiculously simple. How simple? Well, it is supposed to be "weekly" homework, but my child completes it in about 5 minutes. Only recently, because I raised concerns about it, has the teacher started giving him more difficult homework.

Before she did that, however, she explained the teachers, "...take turns," assigning the weekly homework, so she was simply giving him what all of the other second graders were getting. There are a couple of problems with that. First, not all second-grade classes are necessarily doing the same level of work. Second, my son is in a Montessori classroom, so doesn't giving everyone the same work sort of defeat the principle of Montessori?

I have said it before, so I'll say it again now, I'm only concerned with common core as it applies to math, because I haven't seen how it affects other subjects.

You need to read Piaget for the reasoning behind the pedagogy. If your teachers don't differentiate their instruction, then you might need to bring that up to the instructional lead. BTW, I have a second grader as well and have seen it "first hand". There is nothing special about your situation with your "knowledge" of the math curriculum. I'm glad that your child performs at a high level...but that is not every child. Gone are the days of kids knowing a fact, but not knowing why that is so (you alluded to this in your post)

I'm not a fan of Montessori unless it is done correctly. There are many kids that find it very difficult to make the transistion from Montessori to other classrooms due to the structure or lack thereof, in that type of classroom. I think you have an incorrect view of Montessori. You are thinking of open self-paced classrooms

__________________The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it

You need to read Piaget for the reasoning behind the pedagogy. If your teachers don't differentiate their instruction, then you might need to bring that up to the instructional lead. BTW, I have a second grader as well and have seen it "first hand". There is nothing special about your situation with your "knowledge" of the math curriculum. I'm glad that your child performs at a high level...but that is not every child. Gone are the days of kids knowing a fact, but not knowing why that is so (you alluded to this in your post)

I'm not a fan of Montessori unless it is done correctly. There are many kids that find it very difficult to make the transistion from Montessori to other classrooms due to the structure or lack thereof, in that type of classroom. I think you have an incorrect view of Montessori. You are thinking of open self-paced classrooms

It's possible my understanding of the way Montessori is supposed to work is incorrect, but it doesn't change the fact that the curriculum that is being used is intentionally meant to hold my son (and others who do exceptionally well - even more so than my son) back is a very bad thing.

I understand not every child performs at a high level, but does that mean the system should try to inhibit the students who do? That just a different version of NCLB, because now instead of pushing students through who don't actually understand the subject matter (which is a terrible thing), we're keeping the students who perform exceptionally well down on the level of those who don't, which is just as terrible. It' simply another example of a participation medal, in my opinion.

Yeah, think harder about doing things in ridiculous ways because a lot of teachers before now didn't take the time to explain what something like 4 x 5 means instead of just teaching the answer and telling the students to memorize their multiplication tables.

The system is designed to get everyone on the same level, and since it's extremely hard to bring students who struggle up to the level of the students who excel, the solution is to put a system in place that brings the students who excel down to the same level as the students who struggle.

And don't try to convince me otherwise, because I have seen it first hand. I have a second grader who consistently places in sixth-grade level work, but his teacher (because of common core) continues to try to give him homework that is ridiculously simple. How simple? Well, it is supposed to be "weekly" homework, but my child completes it in about 5 minutes. Only recently, because I raised concerns about it, has the teacher started giving him more difficult homework.

Before she did that, however, she explained the teachers, "...take turns," assigning the weekly homework, so she was simply giving him what all of the other second graders were getting. There are a couple of problems with that. First, not all second-grade classes are necessarily doing the same level of work. Second, my son is in a Montessori classroom, so doesn't giving everyone the same work sort of defeat the principle of Montessori?

I have said it before, so I'll say it again now, I'm only concerned with common core as it applies to math, because I haven't seen how it affects other subjects.

It's possible my understanding of the way Montessori is supposed to work is incorrect, but it doesn't change the fact that the curriculum that is being used is intentionally meant to hold my son (and others who do exceptionally well - even more so than my son) back is a very bad thing.

I understand not every child performs at a high level, but does that mean the system should try to inhibit the students who do? That just a different version of NCLB, because now instead of pushing students through who don't actually understand the subject matter (which is a terrible thing), we're keeping the students who perform exceptionally well down on the level of those who don't, which is just as terrible. It' simply another example of a participation medal, in my opinion.

No curriculum is designed to hold anyone back. That doesn't make sense. This whole idea of designing something that puts everyone on the same level is a twisted red herring. The curriculum is designed to help the students compete in a global market.

And, I'm no fan of common core. I'm telling you that your ideas concerning the intent of it are incorrect.

Also, saying it is a different version of NCLB is incorrect also. NCLB had nothing to do with curriculum design

__________________The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it